Headache
by Literaturefangirl
Summary: Peter Parker has a headache in class and asks Doctor Strange for his help. (Plus a bonus story with Stephen and Shuri eating ice-cream.)
1. Headache

Fifteen minutes was all that remained of Peter Parker's science class. Usually one of his favourite subjects.

But with a pounding headache, the questions in his science textbook could no longer hold his attention for more than a few moments. He needed to leave now, to get some help. Whether the class was finished or not.

Noticing Peter getting up from his chair, Peter's friend Ned Leeds turned to him and whispered. "Hey, what's up?"

"I've got a headache. I've got to go. Stall for me." Peter explained and stormed out of the classroom, leaving Ned to provide an excuse to the teacher.

"Peter, where are you—"

"Uh… he had to go the bathroom."

—

Turning to the person most qualified to help him in an expedient manner, Peter took his phone out of his pocket and scrolled through his contacts. The names blurring, until he reached the middle of the list and found the number of Doctor Stephen Strange, he had been entrusted with.

"Doctor Strange? This is Peter Parker. This is really important, I really need your help." Peter left an urgent message, somewhat exaggerating the severity of the situation. Whatever would get him to come faster.

A few moments later, the golden glow of a sling ring materialized and Doctor Strange stepped out of a dimensional portal. Looking slightly out of place in a modern high school, wearing his traditional garments.

"I got your call, what's the problem? Is your school under attack?" Doctor Strange asked, prepared to deal with any threat Peter had called him for. What he didn't know, was that Peter's cry for help was a little more mundane than that.

"No. I have a test next period and I have a headache. I want to know if it's serious."

"You called me, using my personal number only to be used in dire emergencies, to tell me that you have a headache?" Doctor Strange reiterated what Peter had just told him, feeling annoyed that Peter had misused his phone number to call him about something as common as a headache.

"I know how it sounds. But I just need you to be a doctor, right now OK?"

"Right. Have you experienced any symptoms such as nausea, vomiting or weakness?" Stephen quickly switched to his role as a doctor and asked Peter about a series of symptoms, before quickly putting his hand on Peter's forehead to check for a fever before he could even answer.

"You don't have a fever, so we can rule that one out."

"Well, actually I have been feeling sluggish since it's been kind of hot lately and I might have forgotten to eat breakfast because I studied late last night and slept in."

"You're dehydrated and you've missed a meal. No wonder you've got a headache." Doctor Strange sympathized with Peter's situation. No stranger to hot New York weather or missing out on food as a result of late-night studying.

"If you have something to eat in your locker, go eat that. I'll be back soon." Doctor Strange advised and went towards the corridor with the nearest vending machine.

Coming back with a beverage in his hand, Doctor Strange found Peter at his locker, eating a sandwich and handed him a bottle of Gatorade.

"Drink this. It'll balance your electrolytes."

"Thanks Dr. Strange. You're a life saver." Peter thanked the doctor, giving him too much credit. Reminding Stephen of the need to redefine the circumstances in which Peter could call him.

"Yes, about that… please only call me if there's a crisis on a _planetary_ scale."

"Yeah. That's my bad…" Peter acknowledged, as Doctor Strange opened a portal with his sling ring. "Thanks again!" Peter felt the need to call out, as Doctor Strange entered the portal and disappeared from sight.

* * *

 **Story idea credit of Peter calling Doctor Strange for a headache goes to Tom Holland. The story he told in his Screen Rant interview was so cute that I needed to complete it, with some minor changes to fully exploit the school setting.**

 **Requests for lighthearted interactions with other characters are also open.  
**

 **/TxjEeAI1gD0?t=130 (Add this to a YouTube address)  
**


	2. Ice-Cream

**Author's Note:** **For those of you following this one-shot, here's an extra Doctor Strange interaction chapter (with Shuri this time) requested by a reviewer. A request I was very happy to fulfil.**

* * *

Arms tired from carrying two shopping bags after a busy day of shopping, Shuri felt a rain drop fall on her forehead and looked up to the sky; cloudy with a chance that her newly purchased items would get wet.

"Not now!" She cursed under her breath. Regretting her decision of finding a bus stop to return to the Avengers Compound, with no shelter in sight.

When her brother had invited her to come to New York with him, while he trained with the Avengers, Shuri had expected it to be a fun addition to her routine. A chance to catch the latest movies, eat hot dogs and enjoy warm, but milder weather. This… was much milder and wetter than she had anticipated.

—

As he watched the rain gliding down the circular window of the Sanctum Sanctorum, Stephen Strange felt a sense a calm and thankfulness washing over him.

Up here, he could overlook the streets while staying dry. Savouring the time when the world was not in peril and in need of saving. Or so he thought.

Holding up a shopping bag to shield herself from the rain, Stephen noticed a young woman with long braided hair, wearing sophisticated clothes that made her look like the most fashionable girl in New York, or at least Bleecker Street. Somewhere in his mind, a familiar memory flickered. This was T'Challa's younger sister from the S.H.I.E.L.D personnel files and she looked like she could use a bit of saving.

Travelling down the staircase, Stephen opened the front door of the Sanctum and hollered. "Over here." Gesturing for Shuri to come inside.

Running across the street to the front steps of the mansion, Shuri thanked the well-meaning Doctor Strange.

"Thanks for that."

"You sure picked a bad day to not bring an umbrella." Stephen remarked and closed the door after Shuri had entered. Choosing a relevant quip on a rainy day, over a normal reply to break the ice.

"I wasn't thinking about the weather. I just came here to do some shopping, have a look around New York. That sort of thing." Shuri explained, dropping her shopping bags on the floor.

"We haven't formally been introduced, by the way. I'm Doctor Steven Strange. I know of your brother, but have never had the pleasure of meeting your acquaintance." Stephen introduced himself and held out his hand for her to shake. His charming demeanour, making Shuri smile.

"Shuri." She gave him her name and shook his hand. "And you can't blame me for not being prepared. We don't exactly get a lot of rain in Wakanda."

"No, of course not. May I offer you something to eat?" Stephen concurred and offered his guest some refreshments.

"I could go for some chips, right about now." Shuri revealed the junk food she was in the mood for, after she had burned so many calories walking through a shopping mall.

"I'm afraid I don't have any. Would ice-cream do?" Stephen asked. Sheepish that he could not provide what Shuri had asked for, but grateful that he still had an unfinished tub of Stark Raving Hazelnut in the freezer to offer.

After Shuri had enthusiastically said yes, Doctor Strange lead her to the staircase and they both sat down on one of the steps, until Stephen's Cloak of Levitation arrived on the scene carrying a tub of ice-cream.

"I didn't say to bring the whole tub!" Stephen scolded it and went to the kitchen with the cloak following behind him to get a bowl and spoon for Shuri.

After a few minutes, Stephen returned with the proper crockery and utensil and handed it to Shuri, to which she replied. "Does the rest of your wardrobe float like that?

"No, just the cloak."

—

As they sat silently while Shuri ate her ice-cream, Stephen looked to the side in the opposite direction. Taking this moment to observe Stephen while his gaze was elsewhere, Shuri noticed the pink scars running vertically across his fingers. His fingers slightly trembling as they pressed down on his thigh.

"You know, Wakanda has technology that would make those scars look practically non-existent." Shuri spoke, breaking the silence. The doctor had been gracious enough to invite her into his home and to share his food. It was only natural that she would offer what she could in return.

"It's kind of you to offer, but my scars are a reminder of how far I've come and I don't want to lose that."

"I get it." Shuri paused for a moment, before responding. Feeling admiration for the man who would turn a haunting reminder of his accident, into a sign of strength.


	3. Spider in Disguise

In the days nearing Christmas, May Parker had tasked herself with creating an abundance of Christmas cookies that would feed her nephew Peter and any friends he felt inclined to share them with.

One such friend; Doctor Stephen Strange had accepted Peter's invitation to visit his apartment in Queens for advice on a science project and some Christmas cookies on the side. A welcome change from the non-festive Sanctum Sanctorum, during the winter months.

"So, can you turn people invisible?" Peter asked, excited by the possibility of spells, as Stephen drank carefully from a glass of milk.

"There are few spells that create the illusion of negative refraction, but since you've been such a gracious host…" Stephen responded after thinking things over. There were far more interesting spells at his disposal. Invisibility was a mere magic trick to a master of the mystical arts.

Outside of the Sanctum Sanctorum, a flock of pigeons cooed loudly as Stephen obliged Peter's request. He then cast the spell and uttered the necessary incantation. But something felt wrong. Peter's spider sense tingled as his body grew shorter and morphed into the small, feathered form of a pigeon.

Neither man nor bird said a word, as Stephen stared dumbfounded at the former adolescent turned pigeon.

"Sorry, I was distracted. I mixed up refraction with transfiguration." Stephen apologized, a tap from his Cloak of Levitation bringing him to his senses. Could Peter even understand what he was saying?

"This wasn't what I imagined, but this is so cool!" Peter finally exclaimed, as he looked curiously underneath his wings and checked out his new flight feathers.

"Well, you are 'invisible' in a way. No one will pay attention to you as a pigeon." Stephen added, feeling a little self-conscious about his magical blunder. But Peter was too busy with the experience of being a pigeon to notice Stephen's improvised explanation.

"Before you change me back, can I do a lap around the room?" Peter asked, inspiration striking after he'd adjusted to his weird and distorted vision.

"Of course." Stephen quickly answered, relating to the familiar childlike wonder of what it would be like to fly.

Stephen watched as his feathered friend took off and flew rapidly around the room, rising and falling as he got the hang of flapping his wings.

"This is amazing!" Peter cried out with joy. His grey body blurring as he gained speed, making it difficult for Stephen to keep track of him. But before Peter could crash into any walls, the cloak removed itself from Stephen's shoulders and offered itself as a safe landing surface.

Once Peter had landed on the soft fabric, Stephen cast the spell which transformed Peter back into his human form; a rather ravenous one, as a result of his speedy flight.

"Hey can you put some bread in the toaster? I feel a bit peckish." Peter asked, oblivious to the clever pun he'd just made.

* * *

 **Happy December Marvel fans! I hope you enjoyed my (very silly) Spies in Disguise inspired chapter. Benedict Cumberbatch speaking about interacting with people and being worried about what other people think of you, also played a part in it.**

(Search for Why Choosing Characters With Social Anxiety - Benedict Cumberbatch on Youtube.)


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